Spike



UNITED TATES CALVIN WILSON KING, or sEYMoUR, MISSOURI.

SPIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 581,074, dated April 20, 1897.

Application filed April 1, 1896. Serial No. 585,848. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CALVIN WILSON KING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seymour, in the county of Webster and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Spike, of which the following is a specification. This invention aims to provide a railroadspike which when driven into a tie or timber will come close up against the foot of a rail,

iron, or other part to be secured, thereby obviating any space and insuring a close and snug fit between the spike and the part to be fastened thereby, and which when driven home will obtain a firm anchorage.

For a full understanding of the merits and advantages of the invention reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings and the following description.

The improvement is Susceptible of various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof, and to a full disclosure of the invention an adaptation thereof is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved spike, the dotted lines showing the outline of a spike of ordinary construction. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the spike. Fig. 3 is a cross-section about on the line X X of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is ahorizontalsection on the line Y Y of Fig. 1.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and designated in the views of the drawings by the same reference-characters.

The spike may be cut, cast, drop-forged, or constructed in any of the usual ways and is rectangular in cross-section and in general appearance resembles a spike of ordinary formation. The head projects from the front side of the body a sufficient distance to overlap the foot of a rail or other part to be fastened and is formed with side ribs 1 and a top rib 2, said ribs converging and forming the overhanging or lip portion 3, which extends over the part to be fastened.

The front side of the spike is depressed or curved inward from a point midway of its length to the bevel forming the driving-point, as shown at 4, and this depressed or hollowed portion 4 is corrugated or toothed, as shown at 5, the teeth facing the head of the spike, so as to resist the withdrawal of the spike after it is driven home.

The rear side of the spike is hollow or inwardly depressed, as shown at 6, said hollow coming opposite the depression 4 and having its origin about midway of the spike and terminating at the beginning of the bevel forming the point. The lower portion of the hollow 6 is toothed, as shown at 7, and these teeth extend toward the head and serve to prevent the easy withdrawal of the spike from a tie or timber. It will thus be seen that the penetrating end of the spike is wider than the body, and the crowding of the displaced fibers against the toothed sides of the spike above the point will hold the spike in place by a wedging action in addition to the resistance afforded by the teeth 5 and 7, thereby requiring the application of considerable more than ordinary force to extract the spike should it become necessary to remove the same, and at the same time guarding against its creeping, which is the chief cause of the loosening of spikes.

The rear side of the spike, beginning from the point 8, is swelled, as shown at 9, and this swell extends toward the head and gradually widens, so as to increase the distance from the front to the rear side of the spike. The swell 9 curves outward between the sides of the spike, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3. This swell, in addition to increasing the width of the spike, serves to compact the fibers and prevent any looseness immediately after driving home the spike and before the fibers separated by the spike have had time to regain themselves sufficiently to press closely against the sides of the spike.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- The herein-described spike, of substantially rectangular cross-section, and having its front and rear sides depressed from near the point to near the middle of the spike, teeth extending across the back and front of the depressed portions, awedge-point, a head having top and side ribs, and the rear portion of the spike, from the teeth to the lower portion of the head, being rounded or bulged IOO laterally and gradually increasing in extent, In testimony that I claim the foregoing as or Wedge-shaped as at J, from the teeth to the my own I have hereto affixed my signature in 10 head, whereby the fibers 0f the Wood are the presence of two witnesses.

spread laterally with increased force as the T 7 T '3 spike is driven home, while the fibers are CALVD HSON KIA crowded inward within the serrated depres- \Vitnesses: sions at right angles to those at the head, sub- V. J. KINDRIOK,

stantially as described. F. M. DODD. 

